Assam's third phase of its crackdown on child marriage has led to 416 arrests and 335 cases registered, continuing the state's efforts to combat the issue.
The bill tabled by a coalition of Shia Islamist parties has proposed amendments to the Personal Status Law of 1959, allowing girls to be married at age 9 and boys at 15. The bill was met with widespread criticism by women and children's rights activists.
Earlier, the top court had directed the Ministry of Women and Child Development to file a status report detailing steps taken by it to execute the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
The girl's father agreed to sell her to the senior citizen for a sum of 500,000 Pakistani rupees, but the police rescued her before the 'nikkah'. Pakistan has one of the highest rates of child marriage, where the legal age for girls is 16.
Assam CM said that the sole aim of this scheme is to delay the marriage of a girl so that she can be financially independent and start earning for herself and her family.
The minor girl was beaten and pressurised to have physical relationship with her husband. She fled her in-laws' house one day and reached the Superintendent of Police, following which a case was registered.
Rajasthan High Court, while hearing a PIL seeking court's intervention to prevent Child marriage, underscored that there is a reduction in the number of child marriages cases due to efforts put in by the authorities but a lot still needs to be done.
The 17-year-old girl had filed a petition in high court seeking permission to get her pregnancy terminated saying scans had shown that the foetus had skeletal anomalies with the possibility of genetic abnormalities.
Earlier, the state cabinet night approved the decision to repeal the Act in a bid to end the social menace of child marriage as it contained provisions allowing registration of marriages even if the bride and groom had not reached the legal ages of 18 and 21 respectively.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that at least 800 people were arrested in the second round of the child marriage crackdown in the state. Several thousand people had been arrested in the first round of the crackdown.
Minor girl marriage: The father of the minor, who filed the complaint at the Puranpur Kotwali police station, alleged that a woman living in his neighbourhood conspired to get his daughter married to the accused man by taking the girl's mother into confidence.
The case was filed against the man, a resident of the Ramnathpur police station area, on January 18 last year by the family of the girl when she did not return home after attending a religious event in a nearby village.
The BJP government in Assam is in action mode. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has taken action against child marriage.
Child marriage crackdown: The DGP said that most of the cases have been registered under different provisions of the POCSO Act and IPC sections and action will be taken as per the law.
Assam child marriage: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said a cabinet meeting was held where it was decided to book such men under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Child Marriage: The percentage of girls getting married before attaining majority is as high as 5.8 in Jharkhand, according to the survey brought out by the office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs.
Rajasthan news: Refusing to buckle under pressure, she approached an NGO, after which they moved the family court. Saarthi Trust’s Managing Trustee Kirti Bharti said Rekha was married off at the age of one to a boy of her village after the demise of her grandfather.
Currently, the legal minimum age of marriage for men is 21 years and 18 for women. Sources said the proposal was based on the recommendation of NITI Aayog task force headed by Jaya Jaitly.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said that the government would request the Governor to return the bill on child marriage.
Opposition MLAs strongly claimed that the bill permits child marriages.
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